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This research is supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. I thank all interview respondents for their time and insights. I would also like to express my gratitude to Rev. James Scott, Maggie Hodgson, Chief Robert Joseph, Jane Brewin Morley, Q.C., Eduardo González, Archdeacon Jim Boyles, Seetal Sunga, The Honourable David MacDonald, and Mike DeGagné, as well as four anonymous reviewers and Mariana Valverde, for their comments on earlier drafts. My thanks also go to Emily Gillespie for her research assistance. All errors or omissions are mine.
At least forty truth commissions have been created worldwide, and almost all of these are in the global South, in developing, post-conflict societies. The establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in a stable, Western democracy such as Canada is an unusual occurrence. The TRC is one component of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement (IRSSA), the largest out-of-court settlement agreement in Canadian history. Agreed to in principle in 2006 and finalized in 2007, the IRSSA provides approximately $5 billion for compensation, commemoration, healing, and the establishment of the TRC. This article asks how and why Canada ended up with a TRC rather than its default investigative body, a judicially-based public inquiry. This question is particularly intriguing given that there were broad-based calls for a public inquiry as late as 2004. As Kim Stanton notes, a truth commission might be considered a specialized form of public inquiry insofar as both are independent, investigative bodies aimed at promoting accountability. However, a public inquiry is a judicial body with powers of investigation, whereas a truth commission is a non-judicial body that may or may not have investigative powers. In turn, whereas public education and shifting social attitudes might be part of a public inquiry's role, these are explicit features of a truth commission. 2
Through interview research, this article traces the shift from public inquiry to a TRC, arguing that there is an inside story that goes beyond the weight of the lawsuits and the worldwide popularity of truth commissions. Using a constructivist-interpretivist approach, I investigate what kind of truth commission was envisioned and mandated in Canada, and how and why this occurred. I find that two different approaches...